Bélgica Castro Sierra (; 6 March 1921 – 6 March 2020) was a Chilean stage, film, and television actress.
During her career she participated in more than 100 plays. She also acted in numerous Chilean films, including (1944) by Jorge Délano and The Good Life (2008) by Andrés Wood. Under the direction of Ricardo Larraín she participated in Chile puede (2008), where she played a Russian scientist, a role for which she received the Paoa Award of the Viña del Mar International Film Festival for Best National Lead Actress and the APES Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also won the 1995 National Prize for Performing and Audiovisual Arts.
Biography Bélgica Castro, the daughter of Spanish anarchist parents, was born in Concepción and studied in Temuco. In 1940, she traveled to Santiago to study Spanish at the of the University of Chile, where she joined the theater group Cadip. Then, along with other young artists led by Pedro de la Barra, she founded the in 1941. Hired by the BBC, she spent 1949 in London.
Having retired from the Theater of the University of Chile, she and Alejandro Sieveking formed their own company, El Teatro del Ángel. Subsequently, from 1974 until the end of 1984, they settled in Costa Rica, where she also achieved notable successes with the same company.
She was a teacher of the history of theater at the University of Chile's Theater School for 14 years, and of acting at the Theater School of the Catholic University of Chile and at the University of Costa Rica.
In 1995, she was awarded the National Prize for Performing and Audiovisual Arts. In 2001, she received the APES Award granted by the for her career. In 2007 she was nominated for the Altazor Award for Best Actress in Theater for her role in the play Cabeza de ovni, and won it in 2013 for Todo pasajero debe descender.
She acted in numerous Chilean films, most notably (1944) by Jorge Délano; El final del juego (1970) by Luis Cornejo; Little White Dove (1973), Days in the Country (2004) and the miniseries La Recta Provincia (2007) by Raúl Ruiz; and (1999) and The Good Life (2008) by Andrés Wood. Under the direction of Ricardo Larraín she participated in Chile puede (2008), where she played a Russian scientist, a role for which she received the Paoa Award of the Viña del Mar International Film Festival for Best National Lead Actress and the APES Award for Best Supporting Actress.
For her role in the film , the debut of director Sebastián Silva, she won the 2008 Altazor Award for National Arts in the category Best Film Actress. In 2009, she received the same award for her role in Andrés Wood's The Good Life. In 2010, she returned to the big screen in the Sebastián Silva film Old Cats, along with her husband Alejandro Sieveking, Claudia Celedón, and Catalina Saavedra. Her lead role earned her the Best Actress award at the 16th Festivalisimo, the Ibero-Latin American Film Festival of Montreal, and a third Altazor for film acting.
Castro died on 6 March 2020, her 99th birthday, which fell one day after the death of her husband Alejandro Sieveking, who died at age 85 on 5 March.
Filmography Film (1944) El final del juego (1970) Little White Dove (1973) – Abuela Sin ceder (1998) (1998) (1999) – Margarita Days in the Country (2004) – Paulita Life Kills Me (2007) – The Old Woman (The Death) Chile puede (2008) The Good Life (2008) Old Cats (2010) – Isidora Viejos amores (2016) – Herself Hecho bolsa (2019) – Mother
Television
(1972) – Eduviges La Recta Provincia (2007) – Rosalba Litoral (2008) – Señora
Awards APES Awards Year Category Production Result Ref.2001 Career Winner 2008 Best Supporting Actress Chile puede Winner
Altazor Awards Year Category Production Result Ref. 2007 Best Theater Actress Cabeza de Ovni Nominated 2008 Best Film Actress Winner 2009 Best Film Actress The Good Life Winner 2013 Best Theater Actress Todo pasajero debe descender Winner Best Film Actress Old Cats Winner
Other awards 1995, National Prize for Performing and Audiovisual Arts 1999, Rectoral Distinction Medal of the University of Chile 2002, Professor Pedro de la Barra Distinction Medal of Cultural Merit 2008, Viña del Mar International Film Festival Paoa Award 2010, Pedro Sienna Award for Best Lead Actress in Old Cats 2015, UMCE Armando Rubio Culture Prize 2016, Award for Best National Career 2016, Pablo Neruda Order of Artistic and Cultural Merit 2017, Distinguished Public Person Medal from the Municipality of Providencia
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